Eostia: Harem Quest

by EostianScribe

The Gods have given mortals the power of The Gamer as a pass time. A hobby. A means to compete and relax. One goddess, however, sees it as a means of salvation; starting with one world. As such, she rolls the dice... (Harem, Citrus and Eventual Dark Content Warning)

41. Act II-Ch XIX: Demonborne

[ - Author's Note - ]

Well, here we are... And this chapter is a bit longer as the last one.

Yikes...

Anyway, let's start off with the fic's newest milestone on Fan Fiction Dot Net; surpassing eight hundred reviews! Two hundred more and we reach four digits! Sweet!

The next Questline's chapter is also ready; Blondes Have More Fun, a short and brief look inside Tiffany's time in the manor without the others. Just a little snapshot, that is.

Also in addition to Final Fantasy Fourteen I've been playing Ace Combat Seven. Do you like cool fighter planes? Do you like rockin' music? Do you like a surprisingly good war story? Do you like blowing shit up?

Then play it!

Anyway, when we last left off the Dawn Templars were having difficulty on almost all fronts and James was locked in combat with Blood Caller... Who just pulled a Kaio-Ken on James, making the situation drastically different.

And now... The conclusion of that cliffhanger...

And... other things.

[ - Act II - Chapter XIX: Demonborne - ]

Three and a Half Years Ago
Red Fang Tribe Camp
Near the Border of the County of Ferra and Grand Duchy of Ur

"Are you sure about it, Blood Drinker?"

"Positive, Brother. Positive." Blood Caller hummed softly as he crossed his arms, hearing his brother's answer. Sitting around a campfire the three goblin brothers sat around on logs, watching chunks of deer meat cook over the open flame. Night had fallen and the curtain of stars hung over them capped by a bright, full moon as they rested in the small clearing; a few trees and bushes dividing them from the main camp and giving them a moment of privacy. Blood Maker sat with his arms crossed and pressed to his knees as Blood Drinker leaned forwards, smirking.

"Every time we've used the vision orb it's visions turned true." He said, pulling out a small, golf ball sized spell orb. Brass discs capped the top and bottom and both bore a small spell stone. "It hasn't turned us wrong before. The Slut Princess of Ur will be there. I just need the opening to get past their patrols and get to that meadow."

"It's not just getting in that I'm worried about." Blood Maker let off, pushing up with his arms to sit straighter. "We know, based on the orb, you can reach her. Can you get away when you're done? The orb does not show all, you know."

"You worry too much, my Brother." Blood Drinker let off with a chuckle and slapping his knee while Blood Caller couldn't help but smile. His brothers, while not Hobgoblins like himself, were large for their race and strong. He was proud of what they've been able to do so far.

"I sometimes think you don't worry enough..."

"Blood Maker..." Blood Caller said with a soft rumble. "Leave him be. We're not going to talk him out of it, and we both know it. If you are so worried then go and join him. If nothing else when else can you rut a damned princess?"

"Are... Are you sure?" He said, the youngest of the three blinking at the eldest. "Would it not be better if you were to join him over me?"

"Someone needs to ensure that Ur's guard are distracted without raising too much alarm." The Hobgoblin said with a grin. "And I would not want to steal either of your thunders. Just promise me that if something goes wrong you cut and run. Your lives are worth more then her full womb." Both of his brothers nodded and smiled back at him as he chuckled, clapping once. "But come, let us speak of other things. Bone Basher is almost ready to head off."

"I'd rather he stuck around with us..." Blood Drinker said with a snort, poking at the cooking meat with a dagger for a moment. "We need to get the tribe as large as possible, if we're to reach our aims."

"Perhaps, but we can always find him later and ask him to rejoin." Blood Maker said with a grin. "If he pulls more into the tribe with him then all the better."

"Indeed." Blood Caller said as he nodded once. "Once the time comes and I can tell him in full our true goal he'll be more then as like to come back and bolster our numbers. When the time comes this land will be ours to claim; no longer skulking in shadows but making the weak ones bow on their knees before us like they should. Ah, the food looks ready..."

The three would chuckle and smiled, each moving to take their share of meat. This was brotherhood; a fire, some food, a bit of good company and good conversation. Their talk turned to what sort of female they would claim as the new empire rose up over the ruins of Eostia, what the former nobility would suffer once they took over and how many women they would knock up.

The founding brothers of the Red Fang Tribe were in high spirits...

[-]

Three and a Half Years Ago
One Week After the Campfire Discussion
Red Fang Tribe Lair
Northwestern Tyn Near the Border of the County of Ferra

"Come on, when will they get back?" Blood Caller let off as he tapped his foot. He was eager to hear back from his brothers and how many times they raped the Whore Princess of Ur but more eager to see them home safely. It wasn't his only concern, of course. The Red Fang Tribe was growing and they'd soon need to move their base lest they ran out of room. Their current lair was an old, abandoned farm. How long ago it was abandoned he didn't know; the farmhouse was covered in more moss then paint, most of the floor had collapsed making the dirt under it the floor and barn looked ready to topple if a bird landed on it in the wrong spot. It had served them well when they had first formed but they would soon need more room. They had some options; a forgotten fort in Jetra, a cave system in Alterun, an abandoned town in Arndale or another cave system in Smol.

All were central enough in Eostia for his needs, all would be suitable but he had preferences. The town and the fort would be too easy to spot and they would be obvious shelters if someone was passing by. They could deal with them, sure, but it was a matter of time before someone sent a search party out to find them. If enough people went missing an army would follow. The caves were his choice, but he wanted the input of his brothers before that happened.

The forceful opening of the front door announced someone coming. Given the lack of an uproar from this person he assumed it wasn't an enemy of some sort but given the rushing footsteps he also assumed it was urgent. As he turned to the door he saw it shoved open, nearly dislodging the hinges as his youngest brother, Blood Maker, stood there panting. "Brother, what's wrong? You looked like you ran from Ur to here."

"I... I'm sorry..." He let off, the goblin let off, panting out as he doubled over, hands on his thighs. "I-I'm sorry... I couldn't... I couldn't..."

"Calm down, calm down brother!" Blood Caller let off, walking over and setting his hands on Blood Maker's shoulders, looking to his face; sorrowful, tear stricken and tired. "What happened? What's wrong? ... Where's Blood Drinker?"

"I... He... W-we had her... We had her..." Blood Maker let off, his eyes looking up at him; seeing him yet seeing far away at the same time. "Drinker... Was about to claim her... and then... And then he was murdered!"

"Murdered!?" Blood Caller bellowed out, his brother flinching but nodding.

"Yes... A human... He just... Came out of nowhere!" Blood Maker let off, shaking as he recalled the events. "One moment Drinker was about to push into her and the next he was dead."

"...Who... Who!?"

"I saw his face... And so did Flint Edge and Long Spike... But otherwise I didn't get a name... We just..." He sighed, his shoulder sagging as he shivered before his eldest brother, now his only one. "We just... ran..." He let off, whimpering the last word out.

Blood Caller snarled out loudly, almost seeming as if a strange light came to his eyes before he moved to a table with in the room and with a roar of outrage slammed the bottom of his fist onto it; splitting the furniture in half as Blood Maker shrunk back at him. He took several long, calming breaths before speaking once more. "...You did what you should have..." He said softly. "If one came others would have likely followed. Dammit..."

"I'm sorry, I should have-"

"No!" Blood Caller cut him off as he turned to him. "No. No apologies. No should haves. You made the right call. For now we carry on." He said as he lifted his arm up, showing his hand as he clenched it into a fist. "We grow. We grow in number. We grow in strength. We grow in reputation. We grow in infamy. And when the time is right we will find this human... We will find him and he will die screaming and begging for mercy! HEAR ME BROTHER!" He let off as Blood Maker gawked at him as a strange, red light came to his eyes. "When the times comes we will have our REVENGE!"

[-]

Some Months Ago
Red Fang Tribe Lair
Near the Center of the County of Alterun

"I need a fucking elf..." Blood Caller grumbled out while seated on his throne, the redheaded human woman under him wincing at the chance her meager status as his kept woman was threatened by five words. She redoubled her efforts on sucking his cock, groaning out to try and please him. On a better note; the new lair was just what the Red Fang Tribe needed. Expansive with plenty of unused rooms, large enough passages to allow even the trolls to come and go as they pleased (Although there was a few rooms the Black Troll couldn't squeeze himself into) and a nice chamber to house all their whores and breeders. Indeed, some of the next generation of Aberrant had been born in their lair over the last five months.

He wasn't just getting a blowjob, however. He had two ogres, two orcs and three goblins making reports in his throne room, as everyone called it; listing their current supplies, where everyone was and what they were doing, scouting reports, reports from their merchant contacts and so on and so on. It was a bit dull, even he had to admit that (Hence the demand for a blowjob), but it kept him up to date on the situation of their small army. Each sat on a seat with some table or crate brought over to set whatever notes they had on.

Well, those of them that could read did, and one who could at least draw tried.

Sharp Eye was talking about how their mushroom farm was going, a means to supplement their food stores, as the door to the chamber opened and Flint Edge staggered in. One of the Red Fang Tribe's earliest recruits he was one of their best scouts and was a possible leader in the future, if all things went well. "B-Boss..." He let off, panting as he looked up at him, shaking with a sorrowful face.

"Flint? What's wrong?" Flint Edge was, previously, under his brother's command. Their aim was to raid supplies where and when they could and was working in Mungale before their apparent return. The first of the returning heroes he seen should have been Blood Maker... But it was Flint Edge reporting in. "Flint... Where's my brother?"

"It was... It was him..." Flint Edge let off, panting as he shook his head. "He was... He was guarding the wagon... Killed most of our boys... Blood Maker tried to get him... Tried to avenger Blood Drinker... It was the same guy... But he killed Blood Maker too!"

"...what..?" Blood Caller let off softly in disbelief only to shove the woman off his cock and to the ground as he bellowed out once more. "Whhhhaaaaat!? That bastard killed Blood Maker too!?"

"Blood... Blood Maker had him on the ropes for a moment but he used... Some weird magic..." Flint Edge rambled on. "Then he was stabbed through the face. I'm sorry... We ran back as quick as we could..."

"Gah... Gah... Gah..." Blood Caller let off, shaking in rage. His brother's killer had reappeared out of nowhere... And taken his other brother from him. His only remaining family, gone. Whatever sons he could sire wouldn't bring them back. Nothing would bring them back. His followers looked to him in shock as he clenched both fists as the human woman rose to her knees, shaking out her dazed head as he cried out and grabbed her around the neck. "SON OF A BITCH!" Everyone gawked around him as his skin began to turn it's color from red to black, his eyes beginning to glow brighter and brighter before a red mist spilled from his mouth as he lifted the struggling woman over his head and threw her in his rage like a dart into the wall, her body soaring over a goblin's head.

Her skull was the first thing to hit and violently exploded in a shower of blood and gore, followed by her shoulders and neck as bones cracked and broke, her body rising up with the force until her ass struck the wall and her headless corpse fell to the ground. Blood Caller paused in shock; he had never thrown anything with such power before. Finally he looked to his hands to see them dark like charcoal and the mist spilling from his mouth. For a long moment he snarled and howled out, snapping his head back.

"DAMMIT ALL!" He let off with a snarl, shaking as he looked once more down to his hands as he sneered. "So, I am among Dagon's blessed chosen and this gift comes to me when both of my brothers are dead! Does this soothe my soul!? Heal the wounds of my missing brothers!? Does it return them to me!? IT DOES NOT! ... Although... Although... This power... Yes, I see it now..." He said, chuckling softly as he sneered as he clutched his hands into fists, the other Aberrant looking to him with awe and worry. "I understand now... This gift is not to compensate me for my loss, no, no, no... It is Dagon's gift to let me avenge my brothers... To see their murderer dead by the hands of a True Demonborne! Yes... Yes... Let all Aberrant rally to the cry of the Blighted Scourge of Eostia! Let them rally under the banner of a Conqueror of These Feeble Fools! Let the women of the realm lament at the sight of the my coming, the Impregnator of the Future! Let them fear Blood Caller! The Demonborne!" He let off a long, deep laughter as he grinned wider and wider. "And when I find my brother's murderer... Oh, the things I have planned..."

[-]

Look at them skittering, skittering to here and fro,
Look at them digging, digging to make plants grow,
Look at them banging, banging metal that does glow,
Look at them, weak ones, weak ones who we will bring low.

Clawless, fangless with thin skin hiding in stone and wood,
Spineless, arrogant and thinking themselves more then food,
Foolish, slow and silly sorts who claim to own where they stood,
Quivering, weak and tripping over silly thoughts under a hood.

Claim we shall, take and steal from ones too weak and low,
Slay we shall, bleed and butcher those too clumsy and slow,
Breed we shall, rut and sow seed in wombs with cock and tempo,
March we shall, win and rise upon bodies of our fallen and foe.

~Bring Them Low, a common song as sung by Aberrant, mostly goblins, creator unknown

[-]

He chuckled as a dark, red mist spilled out of his mouth downwards; like gaseous drool. He looked up at me as he glared harder as the boss music picked back up but in a darker remix with odd, deep, tribal like chants joining in a chorus I couldn't understand as he spoke with a deeper, distorted voice. "Bear witness to the power of the Blighted! Bear witness to the true power of the Aberrant! Bear witness to the face of your executioner!" Following his words a series of black letters that seemed to be scratched out with a thick, red outline appeared before me with a thorny, tribal-like weave formed a line between lines.

_tHe BLiGHteD SCouRGe oF eoStiA_
BLooD CaLLeR tHe DeMoNBoRNe

Oh fuck me sideways...

The view returned to normal as I braced, expecting him to get very aggressive. I used my new Tailwind spell despite a lack of practice with it and popped Reflex Boost. I was sure he was going to attack first and I wasn't disappointed; he gripped his weapon and-

JESUS FUCK!

He was nearly on top of me in a moment bringing his blade down in a vertical slice! If it wasn't for Reflex Boost I might have been cleaved in half! I managed to side step and bring up my shield to block his follow up slash; the mana barrier shuddering under the impact as I was forced back, sliding back on my feet by almost three feet as he followed up with a series to ten thrusts as I tried to dodge and parry his strikes but he was nearly as fast as me now... Under Tailwind. When he drew his sword back overhead for a big swing I jumped to the side as far as I could... And even then I felt the shock-wave of his combat art as I was flung backwards. I managed to stay upright as he chuckled out at me, the mist drooling from his mouth, coming out a bit thicker with each chuckle.

"What's wrong, Whelp? Can't keep up!?"He let off before charging at me once more as I did my best to keep Reflex Boost and now Adrenaline Rush up as I side stepped and backed away to try and recover as he attacked once more. I blocked his sword once more with my shield as small cracks formed on the site of impact before he shoved it and my arm to the side as he slashed upwards at me as I leapt back once more... But I still took a hit on the chest on my armor from his blade. On one hand it did it's job and protected me; the blade cutting in but not through it. On the other hand the impact still knocked some of the wind out of me and launched me off my feet and onto my back as I rolled over a shoulder back to my feet. "Still feeling bored!?"

Needless to say I was on the back foot right now. He made a large, aggressive leap at me with his sword held up high over his head. I had been drawing on my mana during all of this, of course, and before he was in range I aimed my hand and cast Vortex Tunnel at his chest. The spell wasn't really practiced with but I needed to use something with more punch then Gale Burst in that moment. My spell hit him square on the chest and threw him backwards as he let off a surprised squawk and slammed into the edge of the shield we were trapped in. He grunted with the impact and as the spell ended he fell to the ground, landing on his feet before chuckling and stepping forwards. It was hard to gauge how much damage I did but I guess I hurt his feelings more then I hurt him. He let off a grumbling laugh as I tried to come up with a plan only for him to dash at me, zig-zagging about during his approach and giving me no time to think.

I was already trying to counter, Dual Casting a pair of Arctic Orbs through my feet as he charged, letting them off before jumping upwards with Levitation. As I hoped he slipped on the ice patch as I pulled my free hand back and charged up a Fireball and as he hit the ground on his back I threw it at him. It was a nearly fully charged one and for a brief moment I thought I had caught him full on...

Only for him to grab a frozen rock at his side and chuck it upwards to meet the Fireball, setting it off early and before it could impact him, the explosion still impacting him but not with anywhere near full force.. He elbowed the ground, shattering the ice under him before kipping up to his feet. My follow up Fireball was met with a swing of his weapon, glowing with a Combat Art as he batted it aside like he nailed a home run in the seventh inning, the ball sailing off to explode into the shield's side and causing no damage to it. I flew back and landed on the ground, giving a soft 'tsk' as I tried to size up the situation only for him to charge in once more. He wasn't giving me time to think or room to breathe; he was staying on the attack and I was pulling tricks out of my bag like mad to just survive; the one blow I took convinced me I couldn't take many.

I dodged his next stab before he swung down at me. I grabbed the Unicorn's Horn by the blade and blocked his hit as I used Adrenaline Rush, my block almost buckling under the force and weight of the blow as I shoved his blade aside, mostly using the momentum of his own swing against him to deflect it. I pulled it off but his left fist slammed hard into my chest with enough force to knock me off my feet and to the ground. I didn't have enough momentum to roll to my feet as he jumped up and held his blade with both hands, point down in a reverse grip. I shot off a Gale Burst to the side; using the recoil to roll myself up to my feet, inverting my blade's grip and blasting off a point blank Hammer of Smite that caught him in the center of his chest; my Dual Cast trait pitching in once more. However rather then get knocked off his feet he just slid back several feet, digging his feet in as he resisted the impact.

Okay, this is getting ridiculous! I felt like I was on the back foot for most of my fight with Halbert but each time I got a hit in it was clear he was hurt. I've hit this guy point blank in the chest with a serious and powerful spell and he was just tanking it. This is like a Dragonball Z fight; except I couldn't go Super Saiyan and even the score! Sure, I learned Physical Burst to increase my over all physical power but I wouldn't be able to use it and cast other spells at the same time!

I was drawing mana for another Dual Cast as the Hammer of Smite ended, leaving a sizable dent in his armor but doing nothing to hinder him as he charged in once more. He leapt forwards once more as I side stepped, shut my eyes and casted Illusion; going for bright, blinding, colorful lights. His cry of pain and surprise told be he wasn't able to defend his senses with his new found power. I opened my eyes as I casted a Fireball to the side of his head...

One for him to slam his blade into the ground and cause a shock-wave around him that blocked the Fireball and was powerful enough to shove me back as well! He shook his head out and my next Fireball was spotted just before impact as he blocked it with his sword where it detonated. He slid back maybe a couple of inches but was otherwise unaffected. He looked to me and gave a sneer and chuckle.

Ever play an open world game and you end up fighting a boss waaaaaaaay too early with too few levels, while under equipped and you forgot to read the FAQ first? Yeah, it's like that... Except the boss is really trying to kill me and I have one life before a very permanent game over.

I only had enough time to hope the others were doing well before he charged me once more.

[-]

Three mana formed fairies exploded upon the body of the Black Troll; if it caused pain or damage Klaus couldn't really tell as he used another fairy to form a shield before his wife as the sword spiked club was swung down at her with frightening speed. It didn't stop the attack but it slowed it enough for her to back flip away before the club slammed down, striking the ground with a loud crash. As the club rose back up she used her Arc of Steel to slash at the weapon, breaking the blades on one side of the weapon and put a notch into a spot on the log they were driven into. Neither could do much about the follow up attack; a giant and meaty fist into the woman's chest and head; slamming hard even through the mana armor as she skidded back on her heels. A warrior of lesser quality would have faltered and fallen.

Claudia managed to stay on her feet and simply shook her head out as Klaus casted a minor healing spell on her from a fairy as he made more while other deployed fairies casted other healing spells and shields on other Dawn Templars and their Alterun allies; even Lorcan, who was meant to observe only, had joined the fray by pitching throwing knives into the legs of a few ogres and orcs and moving to intercept those Aberrant going for their flanks. As worried about his wife as he was he could only offer her so much support; his role was to protect, heal and support all of his allies and the one would be the first and worst person to answer to if he gave too much favoritism to his wife would be his wife.

Not that it made him feel better in that moment. She had landed gashes and cuts that would hobble another troll but the Black Troll carried on, almost unheeding of the wounds caused as they healed visibly on their own. As his wife dodged another blow he moved a fairy to the ground as it turned a deep orange, nearly brown, before melting into the earth. A wave of matching mana moved towards the Black Troll and stopping at one point before every pebble, stone, bit of loose dirt and earth shot up in a near straight line into the beast's calf with a Seismic Serpent spell that he turned the fairy into.

It howled from the pain and shock but it only hobbled slightly with blood leaking from the wounds caused as it continued to chase after his wife as she dashed in, slamming one of her feet to it's knee and pushing off as she swung her blade upwards and slashing it's chest. It howled out but her cut wasn't deep enough to do more then annoy it as it swung it's damaged club at her. She blocked it in mid-air with her own blade and ended up being swatted aside but still landing on her feet after a backflip. Klaus sent another fairy out, turning it into yet another Seismic Serpent spell and sending the mana to a point before slamming another spike of earthen debris into the same calf as it howled out once more. He grinned as Claudia dodged another swipe as the Black Troll hobbled once more... And hobbled after her, looking confused as to why it wasn't healing life before...

Klaus hadn't swapped to the Seismic Serpent spell for no reason; the point was to bury as much stone into the troll's leg as he could; it could heal around the wounds made but didn't expel the pebbles and shards that buried in. Worse, some of them likely got into the muscle tissue causing pain and damage as it moved. He moved two other fairies in front of other Aberrant combating a pair of Templars, distracting them for a moment before turning both into matching earth spells. He winced as he summoned new fairies, barring witness as his wife was unable to fully block the Black Troll's heavy blow; skidding back on her heels before landing hard on her back, rolling to her shoulder and charging the her foe once more. The massive troll would be the next to take a hit, both of his spells hitting the same calf with another pair of debris spears from different directions before Claudia was in range to strike.

Sadly he was forced to divert his attention once more; sending his wings of fairies off to intercept a batch of ogres and orcs as they moved in on a flank to support Lorcan. This fight was, sadly, far from over...

[-]

Axelia slammed her hammer into the orc's shield hard enough to shatter it apart but had to bring her own up to block another blow from it's club. Yuna's armor had stayed on; the enchantments on the mana armor making it hard to pull off by someone other then the wearer but it was only a matter of time before a battlefield rape was upon her. She swung her weapon to the orc's head and while it connected well and it got a pained squeal from the Aberrant it was able to punch back as it discarded it's now broken equipment, connecting with her jaw with it's fist as it pulled it's other arm back and swung with it's club. She was able to block it before swinging her shield up, bashing the side of it's head as the Helm Division's Lieutenant Commander and the opposing orc fought less with any sense of form, finesse or skill and engaged in something closer to a bar room brawl with weapons.

By contrast the orc on the unconscious Yuna was clearly loosening the armor on the woman under him, working it off bit by bit, ready to work it's piggish cock into the hole under it, breed the womb under it, pleasure itself with the flesh toy under it...

Only for it's head to explode in a spurt of blood and gore from the impact of a Magic Missile.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

Axelia never thought she'd be glad to hear a laugh like that as an additional Scatter Bolt spread across the line of Aberrant arrayed against her allies.

"Come on now, you lowly Swine!" Nikita smirked as she looked down, hovering overhead as she rained another Scatter Bolt down. While not inactive before now she had been much more professional until now as her new opponents gave an enraged squeal. They weren't the only one as opposing reinforcements turned to charge at the heiress, tossing stones, firing arrows, throwing weapons and anything they had as she just raised a shield up, laughing once more at them.

Axelia managed to swing her weapon low, crashing it into the orc's knee before pulling it back and as it limped back she then used a combat art to smash it down on it's head, caving it in. Her opponent now done with she moved to Yuna, kicking the orc corpse off her body. "I have her." She heard, turning to see an Mace Versa moving to shoulder his spear and set it to his back with an attached strap as he grabbed Yuna, slinging her over a shoulder. She nodded to him as a trio of goblins moved to block him as she stepped in, bashing one into the rest with her shield. Once he was back into the lines she moved to deal with the goblins as she grit her teeth.

One problem solved, more to fight...

[-]

"Raaaaaaaaaghhh!" Blood Caller let off as he slammed another combat art into the ground and making enough of a shock-wave around him to send me skidding back; it wasn't as powerful as the one he used after I blinded him, but it was still pretty potent. I cast a full power shield around me as I decided to steal from Prim's playbook. As he charged and pulled his blade back he grinned as he swung at me... Before I jumped out of the shield, inverted it and let him enter it as his attack hit nothing. He had a moment to look confused at what happened before I used my next spell; I had of course prepared for this with Dual Cast and slammed a Fireball into the enclosed space. That would cook him...

Or so I thought. He broke through the shield quickly afterwards, only after a second after the fireball's impact, and swung for me. Once more my armor guarded me, but I knew this time he cut the skin as I was knocked back, landing hard as I rolled over my shoulder. My armor now had an 'X' cut in the front of it as I readied for the next attack. I was too slow as he shoulder checked me, knocking me backwards before thrusting his blade at me. I leaned away and lifted my left arm, slapped it back down around his forearm as I channeled a Thunder Lance through it, electrocuting him for a brief moment before he just slugged me in the jaw with his other hand. I saw stars as I stumbled back with my bruised chin but once I got my feet under me I saw he was snarling and holding his sword in his left hand as he shook out his right; clearly effected by the spell but mostly fine. He chuckled as he moved his blade to his main hand as I panted. I was spending mana like an alcoholic drinks beers and I was feeling it. I was running out of options, quick.

He grinned and smirked as I consider one move I hadn't used for sometime; it was a major Ace in the Hole I kept hidden from everyone. And while it would expose something I didn't want known yet it was either that or die. So I didn't really have a choice as I drew mana once more. He rushed in as I dodged; if I was going to do this I needed the moment to be as perfect as possible. I waited for an overhead swing as I used Adrenaline Rush and Reflex Boost, using my off hand to grab him by the wrist as I used Power Punch to drive my weapon's D-Guard towards his face. He sneered as he grabbed my wrist in turn, as if insulted I would try and match my brawn with his brawn. Of course, I wasn't doing that.

Instead I drew in my breath and unleashed what was my most powerful attack at that moment; a second level, point blank, Dragonborne gifted Dragon's Breath directly into his face!

Neon red fire rushed out from my mouth in a ravenous stream; slamming into his face and chest as he screamed out in pain for the first time since he powered up. The force of my attack made him let go and pulled his arm free of mine as I poured everything I could in this one attack, seeking to end him for good. I poured it on and on and on for several, long seconds. It felt more like minutes, but I lasted a dozen or so seconds at the most before my attack ended and I fell to a knee, panting roughly. I reached for my pouch at my side, quickly drawing a mana potion from it, popping the cork and downing it. It didn't matter what the result of my attack was on him; I needed it and needed it now. Only when the warmth of mana flowing in me was felt did I look to my opponent to see the result of it.

He...

Was...

Still...

STANDING!

Fuck. My. Life.

That's not to say he was unaffected. His armor's pauldrons were blown off along with his helm, his breastplate was shattered from the sheer force and what was left was slightly melted as any padding under the metal was burned off leaving scorched and burnt skin under it. His weapon was warped with a melted front edge and tip, the chain mail over his arms was missing, his gauntlets were slightly melted and given how his fingers didn't flex they were likely fused together and his leather pants was gone save a piece around his groin. He was panting and quaking on his feet but he was still on his feet.

With a groan I pushed up to both of my own feet, moving to a ready position but I was panting still. I slowly drew mana and channeled it into a healing spell to help with my stamina and wounds. By contrast his panting was slowing as he growled at me. "I'll give you credit, Whelp. I did not see-" He coughed for a moment before growling once more. "-see that coming." I noted his deepened voice wavered for a couple of moments as he spoke. I frowned in thought I took note. The mist he was breathing had thinned from before... And his eyes didn't glow as deep. It was hard for me to guess why; I'd never dealt with something like this befo-

Wait... Yes... Yes I have dealt with something like this before! Wesland's Berserker's Soul! I took a harder look at him as sized him up before I gave off a chuckle, weak and tired sounding as it was, as I grinned a bit at him. He gave me a confused look, almost as if I had lost my mind. "You haven't used this power much, have you?" I let off, taking a bit of a guess.

"You make it sound like I need to." He let off, sneering, and once more I could hear that waver.

"And you never had anyone last this long before now, have you?" I added as I grinned wider. For the first time since he pulled out his Blighted effect I felt like I could take him, like I could win.

"Do you have a point, Whelp? Or have you gone mad?" He let off snorting.

"I've seen a power like this before..." I told him, my grin turning to a smirk as he gave me a confused look. "It was called Berserker's Soul. Turned a man into a real monster to handle... for a bit." He glared at me harder as I smirked. "But the strain took a real toll on him. At the end of the fight, in fact, he couldn't keep it up. Mind, yours seems to be less straining but I can see it. You're getting slower and weaker as this fight wears on. And that last shot of mine must have really taxed you. I wager you can hold your Blighted power for... five more minutes." I said as I held up my free hand, holding up all the fingers and thumb, spread out. "Your on the clock."

"... Even if you weren't crazy, even if you were right... You don't have five minutes!" I double checked Tailwind was still up before using Reflex Boost, leaping away from his next attack as he smashed it to the ground before chasing after me, turning his blade to bring the less warped edge to bare. I dodged the attack and snapped a Magic Missile at him, smashing him in the side of the head with it and making him flinch, but doing little damage otherwise. He growled out, looking more like he was slapped then hit with a deadly spell before swinging for me once more. I used the shield in my glove to block, the barrier cracking slightly under the strike as I inverted the Unicorn's Horn and followed up with another Magic Missile as I retreated further as he leaned his head out of the way this time before trying to punch me with his off hand...

[-]

The shifting lines of combat means that when the Noxdecus Heir used the neon red fire attack on the Hobgoblin only one person noticed; Harry Flare. The Dawn Templars had been pushed back far enough to be out of direct sight of the small arena so he was the only one who knew the truth... James Noxdecus, the Heir of the Barony of Mungale was a Dragonborne.

That could be worrying; Dragonborne had a tenancy to become heroes of myth and legend; although not because of their own innate power; as powerful as the Dragon's Breath ability was this moment proved it could be survived or defeated. No, their main strength laid somewhere else; their expanded lifespans. Few knew how long a Dragonborne could live but it was measured in centuries. Most tended to die by non-natural means, but rumors said that they could reach a full millennia if they were lucky. Of course those were only rumors.

Elves took such long lives for granted and grew slowly and changed slower but whatever marker one could identify a Dragonborne by few knew, and as such most didn't know about it until they looked like they were in their twenties while in their forties. As such they were not raised to expect a long life, but a short human one and still bore a human's desire to improve, grow, live life and learn, and coupled with an expanded lifespan that meant time to gain all sorts of skills and abilities. Many tales of Dragonborne Heroes made them sound as if they were young when their deeds were done; in truth they were at least a century or two old before those deeds were done. Indeed, the young Noxdecus was the odd one out for Dragonborne Heroes.

If he survived until then that is; he could sense a turning tide but it was a slow turn...

[-]

The Black Troll made a long sweep with it's club, forcing Claudia to leap back before it started to swipe at it's own legs with his weapon. The giant had finally caught onto what Klaus was doing, if far too late. Bumps and welts littered his skin under and around his knees where all sorts of debris hit, slowing it down, causing pain and discomfort and most importantly of all, hobbling it. Finally Klaus had prepared his fairies for action, moving them in. For a brief moment he ignored the other forces as he made small shields through his fairies and moved then into place; but not to block. No, all the shields were flat and held horizontally. Claudia grinned and charged leaping up into the air, using the shields as steps and platforms to charge and hop along. She tucked in and jumped over a clumsy swing and rising over the Black Troll's head. It moved to swing once more but two shielded fairies pressed into his wrist, holding the weapon back for a critical moment, it's stone and pebble laden legs making retreat or avoidance too difficult.

As Claudia fell back to downwards her weapon glowed with a bright, brilliant golden hue of light as Blessed Weapon was cast on it by her. Following on it was a Combat Art known as the Blade of Saints as she inverted her weapon's grip and with a war cry slammed the point of her weapon through the skull of the titan before her, managing to bury half the blade into the skull; like myths of a sword found in a stone. In spite of the thick skin of her foe and it's dense bones she drove it in like a spoon into softened ice cream as she held her weapon there for a moment before leaping back, flipping and landing on a platform as the wound she left on it's head glowed brightly, followed by it's eyes then mouth with a golden radiance before it's head exploded with a golden light; it's head vaporizing and not even giving a single splatter of blood as it fell over, just a small cloud of hot ash made from bone.

A squeal from an orc would see it turn and flee as others did likewise. A few orcs and ogres lost in battle lust remained but as their allies fled more and more Templars could swarm on fewer and fewer foes as Claudia's platform lowered her to the ground gently, her husband using Levitate to approach her. "Well done, dear." He said, taking a moment to set a hand on her back as he cast a healing spell over her.

"I had fine help..." She said, panting slowly, coated with sweat as she withdrew a water flask from her armor's magical storage; sadly such storage enchantments were hard to come by and make... Although... Although James did have a means of mass production, didn't he? If he could teach the boy the spell and get Celestine on board then Eostia's storage and transport abilities would improve to incredible degrees!

But that was a problem for another time, wasn't it?

"Thank you. This front is broken, but we need to see to the others." She said as he nodded as she set her flask away and drew out her voxlux, quickly calling one of her aides in the main reserve; said aide would be hanging back no matter what, both to watch their prisoner but also to take reports from the scouts and commanders. "Report." She said as soon as she was answered.

"Ma'am!" The woman projected by the communicator said as she saluted with one hand. "Axelia's forces were suffering issues for a bit, but they're pushing back. They could still use a hand, but we have Aeris and her unit already moving to support them; they had other issues to tackle first. Ryder's forces are struggling more, however; a troll is on the field and causing trouble. Worse, Lord Noxdecus was trapped in a strange shield with the Hobgoblin. A trio of wolfmen forced our scout to fall back, but before she did she started he was struggling to survive."

"Tsk." She let off in an annoyed tone, staying in control and not letting fear enter her voice. "Understood." She said, cutting off the call before looking to Klaus. "We need to reinforce Ryder and save James... if we can..."

[-]

Grave Levantine tapped his foot as he watched the hill from a distance, staying close enough to his daughter-in-law's aide to listen in on any conversation she had over the voxlux. Given what he overheard of the reports he was forced to give this band of Aberrant more then some credit; they gave his girls a good run for their money. Yes, technically they were Claudia's girls now but he commanded them for so long they still felt like his unit, his girls.

Doubly so after battle and various nights in bed...

That the Noxdecus brat might die here and now if he was lucky (But he learned not to rely on that) would solve one issue but he had another to deal with. Having Lorcan hide the voxlux in the command tent was a prudent move on his part; as he guessed the harpie knew enough to make Claudia and Klaus question the situation. That his name came up (And from the brat's mouth of all things) was worrying; they had nothing on him but if he ended up under watch it would make things harder on him. That said they still had little more then speculation and, as such, he had a play. He kept his face as cool as stone, not smirking in the slightest. No one was looking at him but he wouldn't take a chance on that. After all, one needed intelligence on the situation to make the most of things; gaining it and hiding it from your opponents. Doubly so when they didn't know they were your opponents.

As much as he hated to do so he would need a... sacrifice. Of course ever since the letter was sent to the Aberrant tribe he had prepared his play, just in case. Ideally they wouldn't have learned of the letter, they wouldn't learn of a traitor in their ranks but they did. What was the old saying; better to have it and not needed it then need it and not have it?

He pulled his voxlux out and spoke to it. "Call Lorcan." He spoke into it as he heard it ping for a moment before it was answered.

"Yo." Lorcan let off as his face popped up.

"Lorcan." Grave spoke, eyeing the nearest Dawn Templar as he kept his voice even and low, although not whispering. "Claudia is moving to reinforce Ryder. Check on Harry and ensure he's useful." Asking if someone was useful would seem odd from most. Less so from Grave.

"Understood." Lorcan said as the call ended, the real meaning clear to the receiver.

[-]

"Raaaaagggggghhhhh!" Blood Caller let off as I jumped up and used a Gale Burst at close range; he was buffered a bit while the recoil launched me back. I had changed my game to 'keep away' once I made my realization about his ability and it was annoying him greatly. In spite of my new found confidence the fight was far from over and one good hit or slip up on my part was all he needed to end me. However I was able to keep mostly out of reach while peppering him with weak, quickly cast spells. I was doing little else with these spells but annoyingly cherry tapping him and I haven't even drawn blood yet, but I could see the change; his skin was slowly draining of the black color and starting to go back to red bit by bit; now a very dark red.

If I had to guess since I made my declaration it had been four minutes. Four... Long... Minutes... He was slowing down thankfully... But on the other hand so was I... His swings were weakening... But on the other hand so were my spells. In short it was becoming more and more a battle of attrition, and no one was clearly winning it yet.

Roaring out he drew his blade back as I shot off a quick, weak Flamethrower at his face; it was little more then a puff of fire but the surprise and blinding effect made him pause his swing for a moment, allowing me to dive to his side and roll back to my feet before hitting a Gale Burst into his back, making him stumble forwards. He snarled out as he turned and leaped at me once more, swinging wildly as I backed up more and more, keeping up with the swings and bringing up my blade or shield to deflect his attacks now as at this point they lost more and more of their impact.

Then my luck turned rotten as the heel of my boot hit a patch of loosened earth (Likely loosened during our fight and all the combat arts and spells slung around), which slid my foot back far enough to make me lose balance for a brief moment; long enough for him to tackle me with his shoulder and knocking me to my back. I rolled over to my shoulder to a kneeling position, trying to rise but he was on me in a flash before I could get up. I used the Unicorn's Horn to block, my off hand holding it by the blade to bring both arms to bare back as I used Adrenaline Rush to push back, but soon he was baring all of his power and weight onto me, keeping me from being able to move.

Gritting my teeth I cast Physical Burst on myself; I couldn't cast another spell in this position and it was the best I could do in the moment. As Adrenaline Rush ended his blade started to bear down to me, bit by bit as we gritted our teeth at each other, me grunting with effort to keep his sword away and back as I was forced to wait for Adrenaline Rush to come off cool down as he sneered in turn, pushing harder and harder, firmer and firmer... Bit by bit, inch by inch his blade lowered more and more... Soon he was angling it to bring it to my neck as we struggled to one another... And finally... His eyes dimmed fully and turned to normal as his skin finally faded back to red over the course of seven, long seconds.

His time was up...

Knowing this I pushed back harder, grunting as I pushed all the mana I could to Physical Burst and the locked blades started to move in the other direction, shakily and slowly. His eyes widened as his arms gave ground as my own, screaming with effort and exertion, shook while I pushed back as his arms shook likewise. Soon I managed to push up to both feet as we pushed into one another, blade to blade and almost nose to nose... "Hey... Blood Caller..." I grunted out.

"W-what?" He snarled as I grinned back. And at the moment... Adrenaline Rush came off of cool down.

"I'm three for three." I replied as he looked confused for a moment then understanding washed over him, eyes widening. It was then I popped Adrenaline Rush and shoved him back hard, making him stumble backwards two steps. He tried to regain his balance but the Blighted ability's strain on his body finally fully caught up to him as I drew my weapon back and used Piercing Strike, dashing in with my weapon point first. He wasn't able to dodge at all as I drove my sword to the hilt through his eye, the blade slamming through his skull and out the other side. "Was the wait worth it?" I managed to ask just before the light faded from his other eye. I pulled my weapon free as he fell to the ground the shield around us fading as the Ring of Combat's orb floated down and softly landed on the ground.

"B-B-Blood Caller has fallen!"

"N-no! Impossible!"

"Retreat! Retreat! For the love of the Devil, retreat!" I heard called out, the Aberrant having noticed what happened as they squealed. Those left turned and fled bare a few who kept fighting, too lost in battle to notice. Either way I was in no condition to help my allies at the moment. I set the point of my weapon down as I collapsed to my knees, panting hard and shaking. My everything hurt in that moment and as I ended my own boosting spell I could feel the strain from the brief use of it wash over me, making me realize how much I had to train with it. I noticed a trio of Dawn Templars break off and rush to me; two quickly taking defensive stances before me as the third moved her neck under my arm, grabbing me by the back of my armor and hauling me to my feet. I managed to get my feet under me as I started an assisted hobble away from the battlefield just as reinforcements arrived; Claudia's unit.

"James! Are you alright!?" She let off as Klaus flew past her, landing at my other side, moving my arm over his shoulder, setting his wand to my chest and casting a healing spell.

"Oh yeah... You should see the other guy..." I panted out with all the bravado I could muster up in the moment; ie, not much. "Bastard... was Blighted."

"Ahh... That explains things a bit." Klaus said as I was moved to a crate the Aberrant left there. I was sat down and was happy to do so as Klaus moved to tend to me.

"What's... What's the situation?" I asked, trying to focus on something, holding my blade with one hand, point on the ground as I used it to help steady myself.

"We've broken them." Claudia said with a proud, if controlled, voice. "The enemy is now in full retreat. And during the battle our scouts found their lair; we'll be taking the main reserve and any battle ready units in there to save who we can and finish this."

"That does not include you." Klaus said sternly as I chuckled.

"Of course not... Gods, I don't think I could pick a fight with an eight year old in a pillow fight right now..." I replied, panting even still. It was hard to say if the fight with Halbert was tougher in this; I passed out from that one and I was ready to pass out from this one. In the end I think Halbert was the more skilled fighter but Blood Caller was much tougher. That Blighted ability nearly ended me. "With their leader down they shouldn't... Be able to rally..."

"Agreed... But we will take no chances..." Claudia said with a nod before looking to Ryder. "Blackedge! Gather anyone still good enough to fight! We march on their lair!"

[Defeated List]

Red Fang Tribe Warriors=15500XP
Blood Caller=2500XP x 2 2nd Form Kill Bonus=5000XP
+20% Dark Horse of Eostia Bonus
Gain 24600XP Total

Level Up!

You are now Level 22!

+1 to Dex, Acc, Mnc, Agi & Mag!
+1 to End!
+1 to Rap!
+2 RSP & SSP!
+5 UTP

Achievement Unlocked: Call for Blood
Defeated Blood Caller

Achievement Unlocked: Dawn Templar's Ally
Fought alongside the Dawn Templars in battle

Achievement Unlocked: Hob-bled
Slain a Hobgoblin in single combat

Title Unlocked: Aberrant Slayer
You've killed several types of Aberrant and a Unique Aberrant
+3 Damage When Fighting Aberrant. -3 Damage to all Aberrant Fighting You And Your Allies

Oh look, a new title! Haven't seen one of those in awhile!

[-]

Makoto had been with the main reserve for most of the battle and had spent the whole time anxious and worried. Doubly so when the report came in that the man she was supposed to be a bodyguard for was trapped with the enemy commander and forced into a one on one battle. That he emerged the tired, wounded victor was a relief but also frustrating; she could do nothing as her lord fought. She was well aware that she needed to do her part when it was time, but that didn't change her feelings; it just helped her swallow them for long enough.

Now it was her time to do her part and she rather hoped there were plenty of Aberrant to take her frustrations out on as she joined a group a Dawn Templars and Alterun Regulars as well as an equally upset Riri and Miria. Cress had wanted to enter as well for payback, but he was with the group watching the entrance; as an archer he was better used in open ground and he lacked Miria's tracking abilities and senses to hear or smell what was ahead.

She was ready to draw her blade at a moment's notice as they stormed into the cave the Aberrant called their lair. They approached and entered slowly with the mana armored Templars taking point; those with physical shields in front and Claudia in front of even them. There was a methodical means to it; they were divided into a total of six groups; each group moving down a different tunnel. The idea was to fight as many opponents at once and avoid being flanked. Given what happened with the Hog Queen in Greenwave she was more then happy to avoid such a dangerous flank.

Riri's and Miria's groups moved to deeper chambers while her group, led by a redheaded Dawn Templar moved into one on the entry level. Two Dawn Templars in the rear would always turn about each time they entered a chamber as they swept. Aside from ill gotten gains they found nothing. No Aberrant, no foes to fight, nothing. The caves were too quiet. They moved chamber to chamber before marching into one larger one and she would hear a loud gasp from their squad's leader. "Those damned bastards!" She heard as they filtered into the room. Once inside she gawked in horror and shock.

The bodies of several women were littered about, their necks slit open and left to die. A few others had their bellies opened to the womb and it only took a moment to realize what cargo was taken from them. They moved in deeper and deeper and looked over it all. The chains, the cages, the pillories, the blood... One girl with her belly cut opened looked like she was thirteen at most as they entered the next chamber. They were greeted with much the same sights; the implements of capture weren't present but the bodies of women were... Except here they were set side by side. All the blood was pooled around them as they laid on their backs and she realized that they had not resisted when they were killed. Additionally all of them either had their bellies torn open or were swollen to one degree or another in the womb.

"Fucking bastards..." One Templar she didn't know let off as she clenched a fist. "They denied us the chance to save them... Those fucking bastards!"

"... We'll bring the bodies back with us. We can offer them a burial." Their leader said, likely to offer some form of comfort to everyone, cold as it was. "For now we'll move on and check the rest of the cave system. Needless to say any Aberrant we see does not remain alive."

Makoto couldn't help but agree with that sentiment.

[-]

Those who were still able to work helped built a base camp at the top of the hill, taking whatever supplies the Red Fang Tribe had left behind which was repurposed to our own needs in addition to what we brought along with us. Klaus tended to the wounded (Myself included) with a number of healers, Axelia and Myna included. I was worried about everyone who marched into the lair; even knowing how capable they were. As much as I wanted to be there and help out I was in no condition to do so after my battle with Blood Caller. At the moment I was my own tent and laying on a bed roll with some padding under it. My armor was off and I was left in a blue tunic and set of black pants. Thankfully among the people we brought along one of them was skilled in repairing leather armor and with luck it would be repaired by the time we returned to the Helm Division's headquarters in Lumiere Sacree City.

I had about two hours or so of rest before Claudia came into my tent; knocking on a block outside first to be polite. Klaus was flanking her as he took a moment to check on the scry shields I had inside as I myself moved to sit up. "Good to see you back. How did it go?" I asked as Claudia moved to kneel on both legs before me. She waited until Klaus gave her a nod before she replied.

"They've retreated from the cave. They took whatever young they could... And killed all the women before they left." She said as I sucked in a breath and pinched my nose.

"Shit." That wasn't too big of a surprise, but it was still a disappointment. Aberrant had no respect at all for women when they were alive, after all. To them women were used to breed and for their own pleasures, and if they weren't fit for those purposes...

"Yes, my sentiments exactly." She replied, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "We're loading the bodies onto a wagon and we will bring them and our dead home to rest." I winced at that. Right... Speaking of...

"How many did we lose?" I asked softly as she sighed deeply.

"Too many. Two of the Dawn died and nineteen of the Regulars." The former was unsurprising; aside from being among the toughest fighters around the Aberrant wouldn't want to kill Dawn Templars if they could help it; you can't breed what's dead after all so the lack of deaths was not unusual. Not that would stop some Aberrant from trying... The amount of dead Regulars was less surprising. "But enough of that. I need a report from you; what happened with the enemy commander? Why did he single you out? Was it because of your device?" She asked as I shook my head.

"No, it was something else." I said as I took a moment to stand and move back to sit on a box by my bed as I groaned a bit. Once Klaus sat on another box with Claudia remaining as she was on her knees as I started to explain; from a bit before I was pulled away via a long whip, how I was trapped with him, who Blood Caller was and my history with his brothers, our brief skirmish before he decided to showcase his final form as a Blighted. I recounted the fight, omitting the Dragon's Breath for the time being. It's not that I didn't trust them, but as it wasn't brought up it was something I wanted to keep as close to my chest if I could.

Likely Klaus either knew or suspected I was Dragonborne; the way to tell one by their eyes wasn't exactly well spread and only the highly educated would have a chance to know without being told outright and he fit that bill. Regardless I compared the Blighted ability to Beserker's Soul which Claudia knew of and she was surprised I had encountered that technique before. Once I finished my tale Claudia tapped at her chin as Klaus spoke to me.

"You'll need to write a report on this Blighted ability. It's under reported on as it is and your insights will be invaluable." He said as he nodded once.

"Did you find a letter there, like you had hoped?" I asked as Claudia shook her head.

"We found some scraps of one at a fire pit; enough to confirm they had one but we couldn't recover anything with a single pen stroke on it." She said as she sighed. "I have a couple of my people searching for anything else of use, but beyond that this 'Black Storm' will happily employ Aberrant we've learned nothing of value from this; at least not beyond previous revelations."

"Damn." I let off with a sigh. "At least we put a stop to them."

"Indeed." Klaus said, nodding as he adjusted his glasses. "With the death of a Hobgoblin and a Black Troll they shouldn't be in the mood to trouble anyone for sometime." He let off as my eyebrows rose up. A Black Troll? Yikes... "The scouts found their tracks moving to the north; in retreat or trying to join with Garan it's hard to say. We've too many wounded to give chase so we called in to the Commander of the Jetra Regulars to try and intercept them. With luck they'll be in no condition to trouble anyone afterwards." That was some good thinking; there was no way the Red Fang leftovers would be ready for that; as long as the Jetra Regulars could catch onto the scent.

"We'll need to investigate the possible letter writer and their ally but that will come later." Claudia said, standing up with a soft sigh. "For now we recover. We'll break camp in the morning and return back to Lumiere Sacree. From there we'll resume our tour as normal. If you're up to it lunch will be ready soon; you'll heal better on a full stomach, after all."

I can't argue with that.

[-]

Dawn Templar/Alterun Regular Camp
Noon

"Hmmm, I see... The loss of such a potent ally is annoying but it is what it is..." Grave grumbled out as he and his three men spoke softly at the edge of the current camp of the Dawn Templars. "Such a waste..." The current situation was a bit vexing for him; he knew he was under suspicion so he couldn't observe things as well as he wanted to, at least not personally. In addition if he acted too out of his character in a bid to shake it off it would be noticed, such as bravely charging in to save his daughter-in-law; his confidence in her was well known and no one expected him to step in given his attitude; even with a Black Troll on the field. That said, he had been making moves to at least obscure his involvement and while he didn't delude himself into thinking that soon all suspicion would be off of him it would satisfy most people.

Most.

For now he was just getting his reports from his men. "Anything else to report, Harry?" Grave grumbled out as the redhead nodded but glanced to the side.

"Yes Sir, but I think it's best to explain where there's less ears around." Grave frowned for a moment at Harry's reply but nodded as the man glanced to a pair of passing Templars.

"Tonight then." How annoying; the old General had heard that tone before. Well, he supposed it wouldn't matter in the end. "Away from camp." Harry nodded as the retired General glanced to one side. "For now, dismissed. We'll be going to Lumiere Sacree come the morning and we'll return to Primus City after. We'll have work to do..." He said as all three men nodded. Lorcan would follow him as Harry Flare and Mace Versa went off in their own directions. "Lorcan..." He let off in a soft rumble, the closest he got to a whisper. "Did you do as I asked in the battle?"

"Yup." The man in black replied with a nod. "I was able to speak with Mace a bit earlier. Same thing."

"Excellent..." Grave chuckled a bit as he moved his hand to his sword's hilt, his thumb rubbing into the end of the pommel four times.

By contrast Harry Flare moved to check on the pots cooking lunch; if nothing else his fire magic could help ensure the cooking went smoother. With the loss of life they suffered and wounds taken a good meal was needed to raise spirits. The fact that the Dawn Templars were easy on the eyes didn't hurt either. Not that he'd do anything to seduce them of course; he had learned his lessons long ago.

For him life was a series of bad mistakes, stupid decisions and being taught the hard way life doesn't care much about you, no matter your starting station in life. He'd always been told he would grow into someone special by his parents, his uncle and his peers. Always told he was destined for great things. Told he was born for greatness. It got into his head at a young age that yes, he was born to be great. To lead House Magister. To rule the Duchy of Halous. To become the High Governor, hell, to become the High King and claim the hand of the Goddess Reborn herself! It was his destiny!

But then it didn't come fast enough so he started to give destiny a little... push. Then destiny pushed back, hard.

Cast out of his home, his house and even Halous itself he was no longer Harry Magister buts just... Harry. What few worthwhile skills he had were sold to the Adventurer's Guild as his senors took every chance to grind the haughty former lordling's face into the ground or taunt him with his lost lineage. He was given the pick of jobs of course... The worst ones. It was enraging... Humiliating... And, in the end, humbling. It was surviving a job given to him to deliberately see him dead and collecting on payment that finally earned respect from his new peers and not long after he was sought out by General Grave Levantine.

Taken under his wing he would prove himself as a soldier and then a knight where he took on a new name; Harry Flare, the Burning Knight of Geofu. His newly earned status even allowed him to return to Halous, even if his old family still wanted nothing to do with him. Even so he rose to heights he never thought he could return to; he had a wife, a mistress and both were due to make him a father. He had a small parcel of land to live on and call his own and he over heard talks of him possibly coming into the line of High General someday. All of it he owed to to the now Retired General Grave Levantine.

Thus when Grave told him of a possible chance at a new regime that could make Eostia stronger then it ever had been he was of mixed feelings. On the one hand it was such ambitions that had seen him fall into the mud and dirt in the first place; arrange a crime that could have been seen as unforgivable and to many still was. He wasn't sure such a path would lead to anything good and that their efforts could have the opposite effect. He felt he had good reason to be worried and that considering the Noxdecus heir a threat to these ambitions seemed... Off given his contributions to the realm already.

On the other hand Grave had lifted him from the mud and the dirt he had fallen into. It was the Raging Griffon that pulled him to his feet and gave him a chance to prove himself. It was the Victor of a Hundred Battles that vouched to give him a second chance, to train him, to ensure he could become something again. He was loyal to the Retired General; more loyal to him then the High Governor and maybe even the High Queen herself. When Grave Levantine told him 'jump' he jumped. When Grave Levantine said 'observe' he observed. If he told him 'Overthrow the High Throne'...

...

Well... He wasn't sure... After all the old General hadn't steered him wrong before, he was surely right about this too, right?

Right?

The thought that he might be forced to stop the General occurred to him; preferably without force. But... Surely he meant well and would guide a new person to the High Throne without much bloodshed, surely.

Surely?

And if Grave turned out to be wrong and he had to turn his blade on his old mentor, could he do it? Could he bring himself to it?

Could he win if he did?

Before he could ask if the ladies cooking needed help or not he felt a rough shove on the back of his left shoulder, making him stumble slightly and turn to face whoever had done so.

"Oiiiiy, what do you think you're doin', ya lazy Coward?" He was a bit confused as he turned about to see his aggressor. By the feminine voice and tone he already assumed it was a Dawn Templar and he wasn't disappointed; there was in fact two of them The first, who he assumed shoved him, was some five foot seven in height and bore a young body that wasn't overly curvy nor overly petite with a set of B-Cups on her chest. She bore short, green, slightly messy hair with a few hair clips pulling a bang back away from her equally green eyes. She bore a saber at one hip and a wand at the other suggesting she was a mage and warrior; although which side she leaned on he couldn't tell at a glance.

Her companion was a contrast; older and likely in her early thirties with a breasts that were at least G-Cup and straining her mana armor by all appearances with her curves. At five foot ten she was rather tall and bore darker hair that was a shade of purple that matched her own eyes which was tied back in a loose ponytail which hung to the top of her shoulders and down between them with two bangs framing her face, the one on the right being thicker. By contrast she had a double headed battle axe slung on her back and small, rectangular shield strapped to one thigh that likely covered the forearm, a few inches more and not much else but was thicker then normal perhaps by two times; likely good for blocking hard melee strikes.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, turning to face them fully, setting his left hand to his spell book in it's pouch. He didn't expect them to pick a fight, the Dawn Templars were well disciplined of course, but you never knew what could happen with an upset woman, let alone two of them.

He had much first hand experience in that.

"I think what she means is why were you standing back and watching while the rest of us were fighting?" The older and larger of the two said as she crossed her arms under her impressive bust.

"My orders were to observe; namely the young Lord Noxdecus."

"Ohhhh, observe!" The smaller and younger of the two let off with a roll of her eyes, setting her hands on her hips. "Meanwhile Mace was rushing in to haul Yuna's rear end out of danger and Lorcan was covering a flank... And they were still observing things." She said as he blinked. That was...

"My orders were to observe and remain out of the way." Harry reaffirmed as he looked to one then the other. "If you have umbrage with that I'm sure General Grave will hear your complaints." That was strange, however. Grave had stressed to all three their only job was to observe and they were to not get involved unless attacked personally. Had their lines faltered so much or had Lorcan and Mace broken their orders to assist? He'd have to ask one or the other later...

"Oooohhh, I'm taking 'umbrage' alright... And right now!" The younger one let off as she huffed, hands on her hips.

[-]

While I was a bit sore walking out of my tent it mostly faded by the time I neared the cooking area as I entered the large tent serving as a mess hall that was set up. A series of crates and boxes were used as seats and a mix of tables with collapsible legs and planks set up on other boxes were used as places to eat. A mix of Alterun Regulars and Dawn Templars took all the seats around the table. I could see two Templars look to me before looking at each other as if worried I'd demand their seats. Instead I just took one in front of the plank, near the tent's entrance. As I did I glanced out and saw two of the Templars berate Harry Flare over... Something. I wasn't close enough to overhear what was being said but the tone of disapproval was clear. I looked to the shorter, green haired one first and used Observe.

(-)

Name: Zillah Seitenlippe
Title: Rune Blade of the Dawn
Class: Rune Blade
Level: 24
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 45
Status: Healthy, Haughty, Calm

Romance Rating: 89
Corruption Rating: 28

Known Traits
[Dual Strike] You are exceptional at using two weapons at the same time. +5% Dex and Agi while using two weapons at once.

[Blast & Blade] 5% of your Str is added to magical damage. Add 5% of your Mag to physical damage
[Tap For Mana] You know how to use magic to it's fullest. All magic costs 5% less mana

[?]

Born the daughter of a Maros slave gladiatrix and a blacksmith she was trained in combat at a young age. After her mother won her hundredth battle on the sands of the Ironsands Coliseum she was freed of her bondage with a sizable amount of gold with which she married her lover. Finding a talent for both blades and magic she apprenticed under a Rune Blade and was discovered by Grave Levantine while part of a town guard defending against a band of orcs and invited to join the Dawn Templars, becoming part of Sword Division.

(-)

Huh... For someone acting so upset her status didn't really reflect that...

I scanned the larger, purple haired woman next.

(-)

Name: Amaru Zweimantel
Title: Seasoned Dawn Templar Warrior
Class: Warrior
Level: 31
Alignment: Friendly
Reputation: 54
Status: Healthy, Relaxed, Patient

Romance Rating: 98
Corruption Rating: 27

Known Traits
[Sensitive Peaks] Your breasts are more sensitive then normal. Anyone playing with your breasts gains +5 to Ple while doing so
[Exotic Attraction] You find species not your own to be more attractive then your own. -5% to all stats when fighting an attractive person of another species

[?]
[An Axe To Grind] You love your axes! +3 Damage to all Axe Weapons in your Hand
[?]

Born into slavery at a young age she was freed by chance at age ten when the ship transporting her was attacked by pirates and run aground. When they discovered her the pirates freed her and took her under their wing, teaching her to sail, fight and survive. At age fifteen she left them and landed in Cauldona and sold her skills as a mercenary. Grave Levantine discovered her when one of his sub-commanders hired her to fill out ranks and he brought her into the Sword Division of the Dawn Templars.

(-)

...

I smelled something funny... Again, nothing about anger or being upset in her status either... And both of their corruption ratings were... Higher then average... maybe it was because of their pasts? They weren't that high, overall. The only other thing they had in common was Grave... Although to be fair as her was their former commander a lot of Dawn Templars likely had that in common.

Something was a bit off about the situation but I couldn't put a finger on it... Likely it was nothing, but I had a feeling it was just slightly off somehow... For now I decided to stop fretting over it.

Before I could think on it more I could see Miria and Makoto walk over to me as I waved to them with Cress jogging to catch up with the pair... And Riri darting past them all to rush up to me and softly tackle me with a hug as I chuckled, hugging her with an arm. "Sorry if I worried you." I let off before she could say anything else as she just squeezed tighter.

"I was worried when I heard you were in a rough spot..." She let off, sighing as she moved to sit next to me. "I should have been there..."

"You were where you needed to be. No one could tell what was going to happen." I told her as Miria slapped my shoulder before sitting to my other side as Riri took her seat.

"Be that as it may, we are glad to see you well." Makoto said, sitting next to Riri. "Have you heard of what was found in the lair?" She asked as I nodded.

"I didn't find out until later." Cress said as he sat next to Miria, leaning over the plank table to glance at me. "I nearly threw up when I finally saw it..."

"I did." Miria said with a shudder. "Uuuugh, just... The smell..." She let off as I reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze, Cress doing the same on the other side. "Just the smell..." Given Miria's sensitive nose... I didn't know what she smelled... I likely didn't want to know.

"We should take comfort that we broke this group apart." Makoto declared, clasping her hands together and bowing her head with shut eyes, as if giving a prayer. "And whatever remains will not be as much of a threat for the time being. We saved many lives who would have been struck down by them. Let us have pride for that."

"Well said." I said as Miria nodded and shook her head as I let go. Cress let go a moment later but only after Miria poked his ribs with a finger.

"On a brighter note..." Riri said reaching to a pouch at her side as she pulled out a bag; it was a decent sized one; about the size of a grocery bag. It was maybe a quarter full from what I could see. "I found these in their storage. A bit of Spoils of War, if you will." I raised my eyebrow at the gift as I took the bag and opened it to look inside... And gawked.

"Holy..." I let off as I gulped. It was a series of spell stones. But not small, low or average ones but good, high quality ones! Most were the size of large marbles with a few sized like normal ones but there were a half dozen the size of golf balls. It was hard for me to price out at a glance, but I might have been holding anywhere between twenty and fifty platinum worth of spell stones for the largest ones alone! And if the average quality was as high as I hoped it could approach one hundred platinum!

I... Could do a lot with all of this. The golf ball ones in particular could be set into a very capable set of weapons for myself to replace the Unicorn's Horn or added to my armor to make a stronger shield, make weapons for my party... There were quite a few other things I could do with them, of course, but that was where it started. The marble sized ones would also be great for weapons as well to add effects and reinforce them for the Noxdecus House Guard. I had a couple of ideas in my head already...

Riri let off a surprised 'hurk!' as I gave her a sudden, firm hug. "This is great. Thank you." The price to get them was too high, but it would be put to good use; I owed it to those who died here at the very least.

"Why would they collect spell stones... If they can't use magic they can't use them, right?" Miria asked as I shook my head.

"Even if they can't use them they can sell them; if they find a buyer with few enough scruples to buy from Aberrant raiders." I replied simply as I looked to her. "They can't just salvage and steal all they need; they would need a supplier and something to buy or barter with. Spell stones of this quality is a hell of a bargaining chip."

"There are other items being taken by the Regulars and Templars." Makoto said as we saw two of the Templars who were held in reserve for the battle acting as waitresses and bringing bowls of stew to everyone. "What isn't taken will be used to fund the burials of the women we found dead." Sounded more then fair to me. Really the hardest part was going to be identifying the women to tell their next of kin what happened.

"But enough about that." Miria said, banging the plank with the bottom of her fist as she gave me a grin as our food started to arrive. "Tell us what happened, eh?" She said, as the others leaned in, expecting me to tell the tale of my fight with the Hobgoblin known as Blood Caller.

And so I did.

[-]

Late at Night
Forest Near the Red Fang Tribe's Abandoned Lair
Small Grove

Once he was far enough away from the campsite Harry held his hand out before him and called a small fire spell to his palm, letting the light help him find his way across the darkened forest. He had questions of his own to ask, mostly on why Lorcan and Mace ceased their observations to get involved directly despite orders to just observe and not get involved in any combat at all; unless they were attacked first of course. He had to assume they had their reasons to disobey their General, but that meant that he was looking bad because of them. Did his General know of this?

Maybe he would have an explanation when he saw him at the meeting. The grove in question was a bit far to report to, but the Dragonborne nature of their foe was not something they could let slip yet and he was sure Grave understood that what he had to report on was sensitive. Tales of Dragonborne tended to inspire the people and if it came out the brat was one the idea that he was the next great hero could complicate any plans his General and his ally had. If the Young Lord Noxdecus was an obstacle to their plans then the last thing they needed was the populous at large thinking he was the next Stephan Draken or Howard Hyperion. Dragonborne while few in number had a habit of becoming heroes and founding houses; At least seven houses in Eostia were founded by a Dragonborne that he knew of.

There were, of course, rumors that the church was... less then happy about the Dragoneborne being held up so highly. Why no one really knew but the line of Archbishops had always preached in 'not coveting the dragon's blood so highly' and 'not assuming the heroics of those borne of dragons lineage'. He imagined they wanted to say something... stronger but withheld due to the status those with dragon lineage had, no matter if they liked it or not. That's not even going over dark rumors in some circles of assassinations...

A twig snapped behind him quickly followed by another as he turned. The twig wasn't snapped by chance or accident, it was deliberate to ensure he wasn't taken off guard. Raising his flame up to the sound he saw Lorcan sigh as he walked closer. What was odd was what he was carrying; a dead goblin with a leather purse of some sort on a shoulder strap. "Where did you find that?" Harry asked as Lorcan shrugged.

"Skulking around here. I think it was some scout who came late to the party." The irregular said as he threw the red, Aberrant corpse near the feet of Harry with a thud. "That or some kind of rear guard keeping watch. I dunno."

"Tsk. Even without their leader they're trouble." Harry said snorting. "Curious the General's ally would think employing such troublemakers was ever a good idea."

"Eh, I'm not fully privy to the plan either. Maybe getting rid of them was part of it." Lorcan let off with a shrug. "Maybe for the best the old General keeps us in the dark, eh?" He said as Harry looked about.

"Speaking about that, were is our good General?" Harry asked as he looked about once more.

"Oh, about that..." Lorcan began as Harry turned to him fully, paying him full attention... And missed the feeling of nearby mana in use until a spike of lightning jammed through his back and out to the front of his body, punching past the breastplate he wore; almost exploding out of him. As he looked down while his body convulsed from the lightning a waver within the crackle of lightning revealed a saber within it. "There's been a... change of plans. Apologies."

Fighting the currents running through him we looked back to see Zillah with her saber through his body. "Sorry, buddy." She said softly, with a hint of honest sadness. "General's orders." His eyes widened as she generated more power through her blade as the lightning coursing into him, amped up in power. He screamed out in agony, shock and surprise no longer silencing him as he shook on her blade as his body started to cook from the power until she withdrew the weapon, allowing him to fall to the ground. He was left shaking for several moments more before Lorcan knelt down to look closer. Once sure he wouldn't be shocked he set his fingers to the man's neck.

"He's done." Lorcan said, sighing as the smell of cooked man started to rise from the body. "Well done, even."

"Grave is doing dangerous business with this." He heard as Amaru stepped out from behind a thick trunk, walking closer and setting her axe away. "What game is he playing?"

"Something to protect Eostia and it's people. That's what I know." Lorcan half-lied to her. He knew a bit of what this 'Varro' was up to but only Grave was fully in the know. Mace knew more then Harry had and these two?

As far as they knew Grave was investigating a rogue element within Eostia's government that was related to the Cloaked Crowns and Harry was compromised by them and tempted with promises to return to prominence in House Magister andGrave was acting like he might turn as well to learn more... In truth, this was a sacrifice play and while Harry was more of a knight on the chess board then a pawn the reality was he was the most likely to turn on them and, therefore, the best choice to offer up.

"I hope so..." Zillah said, sighing as she sheathed her weapon. "...He didn't seem like a bad guy..." She said, hands on her hips as she gave a long sigh.

"Yeah... But the guy did set up his sister to get raped, so you never know..." Lorcan said as he shrugged as he moved to the dead goblin and opened it's pouch, removing a black letter and moving to place it in Harry's hand. "I've a little work to do; make it look like a real meeting we followed him to. Now, remember the story and it'll all be fine. And remember; no one but us and General Grave Levantine can know about this. Not even Commander Claudia can be told the truth, not yet anyway."

[-]

Later That Night
Dawn Templar/Alterun Regular Camp
Commander Claudia Levantine's Personal Tent

"Dismissed..." Claudia let off as she sighed, seated cross legged on her bedroll. She and Klaus had been awoken in the middle of the night only to learn something shocking; Harry had a meeting with one of the Aberrant who bore him something; a Black Letter. Klaus was pouring over it under a light spell as he sat on his own bedroll as Zillah and Amaru saluted their commander and turned to leave. Six other Templars of Helm Division was sent out to investigate further at the site of the meeting. She sighed and cupped her chin with one hand. She had thought Harry Flare was rising from the ashes of his spoiled past... But it seemed he had relapsed into bad habits. He was the one the writer was protecting, clearly.

Clearly.

"Klaus." She spoke. She needed to say no more to get her desires across.

"The letter is a list of things to do upon the mission's completion. A demand to get an inventory of war supplies, roster for the Templars and so on. A meeting in the 'usual place'." He let off as he stroked his chin. "The seal is consistent with what Maia brought in. The name on the bottom says it's from a 'Varro Batzorig'."

"Hmmm..."

"We've been given our answers, it seems."

"On a silver platter, no less." Claudia said, still cupping her chin with the one hand, her other hand now cupping the opposite elbow as it settled under her breasts.

"Yes. Most of the nobility and brass would likely be satisfied with this answer."

"Much of them disliked Harry's return to prominence and redemption, so they'll be happy to hear it."

"Indeed." Klaus said with a nod. "This is really convenient. Too convenient by far."

"...Publicly we'll accept this reasoning." Claudia said, looking to her husband. "We must to ensure we don't tip our own hand. We'll report this to the Blackwatch; they're better equipped for ferreting things out."

"Really, we would do that even without this revelation." He said, sighing. "Even if this letter is meant to throw us off whoever wrote to the Aberrant in the first place one must suspect we have intercepted or there's a good chance we will intercept a black letter so it is likely this 'Varro' is either the mastermind of the storm or someone high up in the ranks. The question is this; is Varro Batzorig a real name or an alias?"

"A good question... For tomorrow."

[-]

We packed up and hit the road come the next morning, but with heavy and odd news; Harry Flare was dead and found with a goblin messenger. That was odd to me and I suspected shenanigans and when Klaus pulled me aside and said a Black Letter was found with him, something which wasn't spread through camp. How very convenient. He seemed to agree and told me he suspected Lorcan, Mace or Grave of being the one protected by the letter in reality. Harry would take the fall, publicly, for the treachery but Klaus was kicking the problem over to the intelligence services of Eostia, the Blackwatch.

Before the Celts came to the realm Eostia bore an internal investigations and spy department known mostly as the Moon Gazers and they had two goals; watch Eostia's nearby enemies for signs of coming attacks and to ferret out spies within the Seven Kingdoms Alliance. There was a minor issue though; it was infiltrated. This was something most of the public didn't know and this information was limited to the nobility and upper echelons of the military; the Cloaked Crowns got a sizable foothold in the Moon Gazers. When Celestine came to power she was quick to clean house and in the end disbanded the division. Of course that meant she needed a new intelligence organization to replace it but she couldn't really trust many of the best options as some of them could be Crowns in waiting; she'd risk the same problem coming about again in full and wiser. Her solution?

Give the jobs to immigrants!

There's a joke about how people crossing the boarder are stealing all the jobs here, but I won't make it; beyond that picturing a fantasy version of James Bond blurt out 'They took our jobs!' to be kinda funny.

Joking aside, she drew the new organizations personnel from Celts and Easterners mostly as she was sure neither would be compromised by the Crowns. This turned out better then expected; among the Easterners leaving for safety to Eostia was a series of experienced ninja who were trained in almost everything needed for scouting, espionage, counter-espionage, spying, infiltration and assassination. By contrast the Celts had a few of their own spymasters but also knowledge of how to enchant tools that could be employed to the trade. Taggart MacBeth would be it's first Chief Spymaster and he would give them their name; choosing a name given to a militia from their old homeland of Celtus who kept watch for crime and troublemakers; The Blackwatch.

They had the same job as the Moon Gazers but with an additional objective; end the Cloaked Crowns while minimizing the damage done to Eostia's people. After all they were meant to be protectors of Eostia and it's people and not tyrants keeping people in perfect line like Dominious' Unblinking Eye who would throw people into prisons and slave mines on a moments notice; the Eyes was less CIA and more Soviet KGB.

Needless to say I made a note to get a friend in the Blackwatch; I could get something useful from it I bet.

Once the wagons were loaded and camp broken we were off. There was one question we still had to answer though; the fate of our prisoner.

The harpie was honestly gobsmacked that we not only survived but killed her old boss. She was very quiet and depressed as she shivered, still bound in a wagon. I was told she would stand trial in Alterun but that still didn't tell me what her fate would be but I could guess two outcomes; imprisonment or death. I doubted there was a third option.

We rode back to Lumiere Sacree City, stopping to make camp part way before resuming the next day and arrived at the city late in the morning. Once we arrived I gathered my group together and took a moment to discuss the reason we were in Geofu to start with; the boosters. We agreed we were behind schedule now but it would be best to leave the day after tomorrow as opposed to right away; it was almost impossible to make up lost time now and we needed some time to decompress and recover. If there was one bit of work we did while there it was that Nikita DeSagesse bought a spare booster we brought along and had it installed on the local Adventurer's Guild. In addition while out we all decided some shopping was in order. I did wonder one thing however.

What were the remnants of the Red Fang Tribe up to?

[-]

Southern Jetra
Two Hours March Past the Alterun/Jetra Border
Mid-Afternoon

"Come on, come on, keep going!" Flint Edge let off, adjusting the bundle on his back as he led a march through a forest. His three sons, one he had to tear out of the womb of his mother, were in a pack on his back as he led the survivors of the battle away and to the north. It was mostly goblins left, a handful of ogres, a pair of orcs and the female centaur who was limping on an injured hind leg with a hastily bandaged arrow wound. Not all of the survivors were with them, having been separated or run down before they got away. They had taken all of the young they could, carried by those who could carry them save a few of the older children who were fit to walk. Leadership fell to him in the meantime and he didn't know what to do. They still had an old hideout in this direction and it would home them until they could come up with a plan of action.

He resisted the urge to snarl, lest he scare his children. He was just glad they didn't need to feed the children right away; an odd quirk to Aberrant children was they could last a full two weeks without food and with limited water; they wouldn't grow in the meantime and straining the limits of this ability could end up stunting their growth for life, but it would let them travel for a couple of days while rationing what food they had. It wasn't ideal but it was the situation they were in and they had to deal with it.

Ideally he would continue the Red Fang Tribe the three Blood Brothers began or someone else within their number would take command and lead them. Either way, the hope was their vision would carry on through them if they could survive. All they had to do was get to the hideout without trouble...

"There's the bastards!" Flint winced as he looked ahead as a group of mounted knights pulled ahead of them as he grit his teeth. "Just like Commander Claudia said! Damn cowards were fleeing like rats off a sinking ship!" Wait, how!? How did they get a messenger ahead of them? That was impossible! There was no chance a runner could get around them, get to another batch of soldiers and direct them in their path so damned fast!

A snapping twig had him turn his head. To their right solders with white shields, purple designs and gold outlines forming some symbol on it he didn't really see moved into position. Looking to their left he could see the same thing. A turn of his hips and head let him look behind him over his shoulder and see more soldiers move to position. Flint Edge sucked in a breath as he took stock.

Surrounded. Outnumbered. Tired. Outmatched. And seeing flames come to the hands of two of the men, outgunned. He slipped the bundle of goblin children off his back and slowly set them down before drawing his militia club. There was a strong chance they would die there, that the Red Fang Tribe was about to end...

But they'd take all the foes they could with them; as Blood Caller would want...

[-]

It was during lunch the next day that the word came in; the Jetra Regulars had found the Red Fang's leftovers running northward and managed to intercept them and finish them off. They were carrying Aberrant children which, for better or worse, were put to the sword as well. There might be a couple odd goblins who got lost and fled in a different direction but for all intents and purposes the Red Fang Tribe was no more. By the sounds of what Blood Caller said the attempt to rape Prim was premeditated, or at least I took his words to mean that, and it felt it was like a final justice I wasn't aware was needed before now that his legacy was in hell with him. It was great news.

Less good news was that a number of Geofu's Generals was satisfied with Harry Flare's 'guilt' and felt looking into it deeper was a waste of time. The High General agreed with them but was pragmatic enough to tell Claudia and Klaus that they should 'not make this investigation a priority, but keep an eye and ear out. It's not the first time laziness bit us in the ass', or something like that anyway.

In the meantime I did some additional shopping. I decided to take lessons learned from my duel with Blood Caller and do my best to be better prepared for such a situation should it happen again. I had done light training in Physical Boost to adjust to the strain better but needed additional Combat Arts both to use with it and to increase my flexibility; I've been too focused on learning spells recently.

As such I collected scrolls for five techniques and got to reading and learning a nice selection of skills.

(-)

Heroic Leap [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Cool Down: Moderate
Mana Cost: None
Increase jumping height by 400% for your next leap

Soft Landing [Passive]
Cool Down: N/A
Mana Cost: N/A
Reduce damage done by falling by 95% as long as you land on your feet

Sonic Wave [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Cool Down: Moderate
Mana Cost: Low
Slash with a bladed weapon and create a wave of energy to shoot out towards an enemy; this is considered a physical attack. If your weapon has an element by enchantment or by being imbued with one this technique gains that element

Dragon's Fist [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Cool Down: Moderate
Mana Cost: Low
Throw a punch and be carried forwards by it's momentum; can be used horizontally or vertically

Steel Skin [Lvl I] (0/1000)
Cool Down: Moderate
Mana Cost: Low
For the next 10 seconds reduce damage taken by 20% and increase Con by 5%

(-)

Honestly, I think it was a fine selection. Next time I ended up fighting something like that I would have more options and be better able to take a hit with Steel Skin. In addition, once I was done with it I loaned my Sonic Wave scroll out to Makoto who was quite interested in it.

Aside from that I've been working on my little toy wagon. I set a spell stone to a small block of wood and enchanted it with Arcane Weapon; not to make a weapon but to make a small wheel and a pair of throttles on the block. One throttle would make my toy move forwards along the floor of my quarters on it's own accord and the wheel turned it. The second throttle, however, made the Levitation spell I added kick in and make it fly... kinda.

It was... rough. First, the dual throttle design was a bit awkward for me and I'd need a new control scheme. That's why I used Arcane Weapon to make the controls; I could change it on a whim and make adjustments to see how it worked. I found it much easier to control when I shifted it to a thumb stick and a single throttle; pulling back on the stick to make it go up and pushing up on it to make it go down with the throttle controlling the speed. I was happier with it, but I think some adjustments would be needed still.

The other main issue was the toy's speed; it was fine when it was rolling along on the floor but in the air it was slow. It kept some of it's momentum from the ground for a bit, but it's default airspeed was horrendous. Like a snail crawling uphill. In winter.

I already had ideas to change that up, but it would require some thought to make sure I didn't over correct and send the thing smashing into a wall like a goddamned missile.

Once I was done working (And playing a bit; I'm not ashamed to admit it) I read until dinner and took the time to eat. As it turned out Grave and Mace had left earlier for Primus City in the early afternoon. Good riddance, I say. That said, Lorcan was still with us and I wasn't sure what level of trust, if any, I could give him. Likely, not much.

Aside from lingering soreness I was recovered and I think some of that came from using Physical Boost on myself to train it a bit. I figured a good, warm bath would fix that right quick so I collected my bathing things and moved to the bathroom to wash up and soak in the guest's bath. I was reaching the door when I heard someone call out to me. "Going for a bath as well?" I turned to see Cress walking over to me, a matching bundle of bathing supplies under one of his arms as his other gave me a soft wave.

"Yeah, I was," I replied, smiling to him and waving back. Guess I was sharing a bath now; that wasn't unusual for this world after all. I opened the door and let him enter first before moving in after, shutting the door behind me.

[-]

"Are you still thinking about it?"

"Aren't you?"

Wandering the halls of the Headquarters of The Dawn Templar's Helm Division was Zillah Seitenlippe and Amaru Zweimantel the former addressing the latter as they both sighed. Neither spoke of the subject they were worried about; both knew that the death of Harry Flare was part of some shadow game Grave was playing on behalf of Eostia, or at least they were told so. After all none could be more loyal to Eostia then a man as legendary as the Raging Griffon, right?

Right?

Zillah sighed and pinched her nose for a moment as she sucked in a breath. They needed to do something. Anything to get their minds off what happened in that small grove that night. Looking up she quickly spotted it. "Hey, look."

Amaru looked up after her in time to see one of the males they were escorting holding the door open to the bath for the other male before following him in. The two girls looked at one another before smiling. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Let's get some soap and... wash up."

It is, of course, worth noting that James' Observe skill doesn't identify every skill of everyone he sees. And in this case both women, and some other members of the Dawn Templars in fact, shared one.

All Night Long
Every time you make someone come to an orgasm increase all of your sexual stats by one. Additionally, each time you make someone climax and you avoid yours does not occur within thirty seconds increase your Stamina by an additional one

[-]

"This is what we needed!" Cress let off, grinning and stretching as he leaned back in the bath. Once inside we stripped, washed and started to soak in the tub naked. And yes, his plush, naked ass was more pleasing to the eye then some women I had laid with, despite being male. No, I don't understand it either.

We had mostly made small talk; talk about some of the less... intense bits on the trips through Ur and Feoh I had, how life in Iron Road has been while I was gone, bits of our journey up until now, that sort of thing. "I do have to admit, after that fight a bit of relaxation was needed." I said, hands moving behind my head and leaning back. The bathroom was quite nice; smooth stone, a tub twelve feet around in a circle. Benches in the tub let us sit down and I was up near my shoulders and on Cress the water line was closer to his neck. "I always did wonder; why chase Miria?" I asked him, as I moved my arms back down to lay it on the edge of the tub as Cress looked right at me.

"I mean, well, how do I put this... You remember, ah, growing up? Before you went off to learn Enchanting?" He asked as I nodded. As nobility (Adopted in Miria's case) we had access to good schooling. In the case of Miria and Cress they went to an academy in Ferra's Wallace City. The memories I had was all second hand, of course, but Miria had made a decent clique for herself; most of the kids either found her unique and wanted to get to know her or was racist and wanted to bully her... Which led to broken noses of some idiots, because Miria can be a scrappy one.

Cress, by contrast, was considered an easy target; he was a short, girly looking boy among a lot of boys looking to assert themselves and their strength who needed someone to assert themselves over; or to be short and blunt someone like Cress. He and Miria were good friends going into school, but came out of it a bit rockier. "I, ugh, had a hard time... Standing up for myself, ya know..." He said, sighing a bit more. "And I spent a few hours each week with a healer-" I winced a bit at that; I hadn't heard of that before now. "-but Miria was one of the few people who stood up for me, and pushed back at them. I guess... I guess I came to over rely on her, ya know?"

"I can guess..." I said softly. Even if adopted into House Noxdecus she was born to a tribal, nomadic group of hunters on the plains; strength and independence would be valued by them and while Miria had... issues with the Catalan tribes in general and the Mir in particular I imagined a lot of it still stuck.

"I guess I just made her feel exasperated and exhausted, sticking up for someone who couldn't... No... wouldn't fight back for himself." He sighed once more and leaned back, looking up as he tilted his head upwards. "... I guess... I guess I want to show her I can be reliable and that I can stand up for myself now... Someone who doesn't need to hide behind her anymore... At least... That's the person I want to be... As frustrating as it is I might never look the part I want her to see me as a man, ya know? And not some wimp." I chuckled a bit and nodded my head.

"Yeah, I can see that. Well you already proved you're a little more able then you were back in the day when you matched her." I said, referring to how he tied Miria in the archery contest in Mungale's Fair. "But you need to show that you won't cut and run when the going gets tough too, ya know?"

"Oh, yeah, of course!" He said chuckling as he looked back, nodding as he flexed an arm, bringing it over the water. "Dad has been training me more and more in unarmed combat, and Mom's been teaching me more sword work. Archery, umm, well, I kinda learn on my own, mostly."

"I wouldn't have known the last one." There was some tone on his arm... If you looked closely enough. With a magnifying glass. Okay, I kid he was getting some visible tone, soft as it was. "You're mostly self taught on archery? I didn't know that." He nodded and sighed at me.

"I, ahh, got some tips from the old man who runs the Guild in Iron Road. He was an archer himself and taught me a few things, but mostly it was just what I could figure out myself."

"Ah, I see." It makes sense. I myself knew a bit of unarmed combat... From the odd scrap I had growing up, in both lives. Mostly in Elddale, of course. I was about to say more when the door and I saw two of the Dawn Templars walk in; the two who were scolding (Or looked like they were scolding, anyway) Harry back in the camp who looked over to us, smiled and gave a wave as they moved in with their own bathing things, undressed and moving to wash up at the side of the room. They said nothing and acted like this was natural and was quite casual as I watched them. Cress also looked at them and gawked slightly, blushing as he looked back to me, then back to them, back to me and back to them. I shrugged at him, not as surprised as he was; how often has shit like this happened to me so far?

Once they finished washing up they walked over to us, Amaru's hair now down as she moved to sit next to me and Zillah next to Cress as the elder of the two spoke. "I hope you lads don't mind some company."

"I'm not going to complain; but I can't speak for Cress." I said, looking to my cousin who shook his head.

"I-I don't mind..." He said... As he sank down slightly in the tub, clearly being a bit shy as he moved to keep his nose over the water and little else. Zillah's response was to giggle and scoot over closer to him, butting their hips up to one another before giving him a flirty smile. Rather then match her counterpart Amaru wrapped her arm over my shoulders and leaned into me, turning enough to push her heavy breasts into my arm as she smiled gently to me.

"So, I've been hearing from Myra you nailed some gargoyles with arrows and took them down..." Zillah said, moving a finger to set it to Cress' chest under the water, giggling softly. "You don't hear that very often, you know?" Cress squirmed a bit under the praise as I chuckled softly.

"It's a form of mana manipulation used via song and music; even humming can do it; as long as you have the talent and patience to learn." I spoke for him as Cress blushed deeper. "It's mostly to affect allies and bolster their abilities and can be used by those who otherwise can't become spell casters. Really, he'd be a boon in any larger unit; even just a mass of other archers."

"Ahhh, I know of those types." Amaru said, snapping her fingers as she smiled. "Indeed, we have too few of them, I would think."

"Well, I'm rather fond of having a nice man... watching my ass." Zillah let off with a giggle, the obvious double entendre being obvious. "And... other parts." She added as her hand dipped under the water and caused Cress to help and jump in the water a bit; it was clear where her hand went to. "And such men need to be... appreciated." Cress gulped, as he looked to me as I shrugged just before my own cock was grabbed by Amaru who stroked me in a gentle, soft manner as she leaned into me.

"Very appreciated." The older of the two women let off as she gave a pleased hiss as my arm wrapped about her in turn and cupped a heavy breast. She adjusted herself to sit on my thigh as my other hand moved to her sex, pressing two fingers to her inside and rubbing softly as I looked to her, groaning softly as she kept stroking me off. As this was going on Zillah stood up, letting Cress' cock go to move her sex to his lips. Giving the soft hiss she gave he didn't need much more encouragement to eat her out, his hands moving to her ass and holding to it as I saw his chin move about between her legs.

This was the state of things for a bit; Zillah riding Cress' face, Amaru on my leg as we toyed with each other, three of us groaning out (Cress' mouth was a bit full, but he gave the odd moan) as we didn't seek to get anyone off yet, rather just warm one another up for what was to come. It was Amaru who broke this state, standing up and taking my hand, leading me to another side of the tub and sitting me on the edge followed by Zillah doing the same with Cress, seating him next to me. The two women knelt in the water and smiled up at us before Zillah swallowed Cress' cock over half way down her mouth. Amaru by contrast took her hefty breasts in hand and wrapped them about my dick, stroking it with her two, warm, soft pillows of flesh as myself and Cress (Who was about as... sizable as I was once excited, I noted) groaned out as the two Dawn Templars went to work on their fun.

I was content to let them have their aforementioned fun, reaching out to stroke Amaru's hair as she lowered her head, catching my cock's tip with her lips and suckling on the head as I groaned from her work as she moved her breasts opposite one of another; one up and one down. By contrast Zillah didn't have the massive mammaries of her counterpart, but she sucked deep and hard, her lips bobbing up and down at a quick but measured pace; you could set a metronome to her movements. They were working to get us off and they did the job quite well; Amaru's work earlier had me shoot off first with a deep groan as she started to swallow all I had to give down her mouth. Cress followed a moment later with a gasp and groan, his own balls pumping a load of cum up into Zillah's mouth, some dribbling out as she kept up her movements, only slowing them down. Finally they both pulled off, taking a moment to lick at us as we panted in recovery.

"There's nothing like hearing a man groan from your efforts." Amaru let off with a giggle.

"You girls are quite proud of these skills as well, huh?" I quipped as the two girls giggled.

"'As powerful in the bed as on the field'. An... unofficial motto of the order." Zillah said as she moved to the edge herself, next to Cress, laying on her back as Amaru moved next to her, bending over; both women presenting their waiting womanhoods to the air and us. "Now, come and get it boys!"

I mean... Do you need another invite for that?

I moved back to Amaru and took her hips softly as I set myself to her sex, pushing into her. By contrast Cress gulped for a moment before moving to Zillah and set his cock to her pussy with a shaking hand and pushed in. I took a moment to find my range and started to work Amaru with firm, strong thrusts as I held onto her hips, panting gently as I groaned over to her. Looking over to Cress I was a bit surprised as he just went to town on her sex, ramming into her with near, wild abandon and making her cry out loudly. I didn't see him as the rough sort. Huh.

I reached over Amaru and took hold of her arms under the elbows and pulled on them as she groaned out as I picked up my own pace; I wasn't going as rough as Cress was, wanting to pace myself more, but I wasn't taking it easy on Amaru either. There was a lot of moaning on the part of the girls, there was a lot of groaning on the part of myself and a mix of the two from Cress.

As enjoyable as it was things had to end sooner or later. Cress came first, crying out and pushing more cum from his balls, this time into Zillah's sex as he kept rocking his hips for a few moments more before Zillah came after him. Amaru was the next to cum, clenching on my cock as I shuddered, managing three more thrusts before cumming myself; hot thick semen shooting out from me as I groaned out, shuddering as she quivered under me. Once done I was panting softly (Well, we all were, really) as Zilliah gently pushed Cress off her to his back and giggled as I pulled out of Amaru, only to have the older of the two women turn and gently push me onto my back. The two girls smiled to each other, gave each other a high five and switched, Zillah moving over to me and straddling my hips as Amaru did the same with Cress.

Zillah giggled down to me as she aimed her sex over my cock and prodded her hole open with it. "Let's taste this cock and see if it's different."

"You look so cute and innocent..." Amaru let off to Cress as she giggled. "But I bet a little pervert in there somewhere. Time to let him out!" She told him as she slipped his cock into her before lowering her breasts to his face, pushing a nipple to his mouth which he sucked on rather happily. The pair of us rocked into the sexes above us while the girls rode us, moving their own hips in turn; my hands moved up to Zillah's modest breasts and squeezed gently as I groaned out a bit louder, Cress' muffled groan joining my own. My thumbs rolled over Zillah's nipples, panting under her as she slammed her hips down onto my own. Amaru did much the same with her wider hips onto Cress' pelvis as I pinched Zillah's nipples. I didn't fully know what Cress was doing to Amaru's nipple but based on what I could see was he was suckling on it like life itself was being breastfed to him.

Once more, things couldn't last forever; enjoyable as it could be. This time Cress and I came nearly at the same time, shuddering hard as our balls squeezed down and shot another load of cum upwards, now into exchanged wombs... However both girls kept moving their hips. I didn't see Amaru's face but Zillah's was one of focus and concentration as it was clear she was holding herself back as she tried to withhold her own climax. It was maybe some forty odd seconds before she finally clenched down and came on my dick, Amaru's voice joining hers in a chorus of pleasure as they rode their own delights to the peek.

We were left panting a bit with two cocks inside of two pussies as Zillah set her hands on my shoulders and panted softly as Amaru let her breasts envelop Cress' face as she recovered as well.

And then they started to rock their hips once more...

[-]

Two hours...

Two... fucking hours...

Or rather, two hours of fucking...

The two of us would swap which of the Dawn Templars we were fucking on and off and at one point spit roasted both in turn then watched as they played with one enough to give us a moment to rest... Only for them to pounce on us once more. Amaru was fucking me now, one of my legs between her own and my other on her shoulder as she rammed her pussy to my cock as hard as she could. Cress was laid next to me, Zillah pushing his legs to his shoulders and slamming her sex down onto his cock in a forceful Amazon position as he made a full on ahegao face. Honestly, if I could look in a mirror I might have mimicked him; these two making me approach a level of exhaustion that the whole crew of the Defiant Wench (Formally Fighting Wench) caused in me; although I had a potion helping with them...

Oh gods, I was going to wake up sore...

I would cry out first, cumming hard once more and followed by Cress who howled out a bit louder then I did as we shuddered and quivered hard. In spite of this the two girls kept going and going like the god dammed Energizer Bunny as they rocked their hips down into us. Finally, after what felt like a minute, the pair came; Amaru first then Zillah, crying out happily and holding themselves down before pulling off us. My cock flopped onto my abs and started to shrink to a flaccid state and from the side of my eye I could see Cress' do the same as he shivered; passed out. Honestly I was having a hard time not joining him.

[Fucked List]

Zillah Seitenlippe=100xp x 5 First Time Bonus=500xp
Amaru Zweimantel=100xp x 5 First Time Bonus=500xp
Multi Girl Bonus=10xp x 2 Girls=20xp
Gang Bang Bonus=100xp x 1 Male=100xp
+20% Dark Horse of Eostia Bonus
Gain 1344xp Total

Achievement Unlocked: Penetrating Armor
You slept with women from at least three prominent Knightly Orders of Eostia

Oh, there's another bonus you can get from sex for XP...

Good to know...

I need a nap...

[-]

"Whew... Now that was good!" Zillah let off as she held her arms up and back, stretching herself out like a cat as James Noxdecus finally passed out. They weren't the first pair of boys who couldn't keep up, but they kept up better then most; hell they lasted longer then those five Faircas Regulars!

"I wouldn't mind another go at Cress someday." Amaru let off, clasping her hands as Zillah moved to the basket she brought her bathing supplies in. "He's soooooo cute and makes such a horny face!"

"Eh, I prefer James. He's a bit more my type." The greenette said as she pulled a voxlux out and moved over to the passed out boys, kneeling down. "Photo mode; self facing." She said as a screen popped up and showed the image of herself and the boys behind her as Amaru moved into frame. The photo mode was a function added into the voxlux to take simple photos for prosperity and added the self facing (Or selfie) mode more for the sake of it then anything else but was still listed on the instructions for the voxlux. "Take image!"

The sound of a click came as the image held even as it was moved. The image showed the pair of boys, side by side and passed out, used cocks dribbling onto their abs and both women's faces on either side of them. "Well, we win the bet and we have the proof." Amaru summed up as the two gave each other a high five before moving to dress.

"Wonder what we'll get for winning?"

[-]

Despite being literally fucked into the ground the previous night (Dear gods the stamina on those girls!) we rode southwards the next morning. By the day following we had entered the northern section of Hakla as I had Lorcan riding in my carriage with Riri, Claudia and Klaus. Small talk was the main aim before Lorcan spoke up. "So, how long until we cut through Geofu and into Sual?"

"Uhh, we're cutting through Hakla, actually." I replied simply as I looked to him, seated to my left with Riri between us. "We're behind schedule already so we'll take the more direct route." He turned his head to give me a look of surprise and even the married couple gave me similar looks, although not as strong as Lorcan's. "...Problem?"

"You do realize who runs Hakla, don't you!?" Lorcan hissed out, as if restraining himself from shouting. Indeed, I felt like he'd grab me by the shoulders and shake me if Riri wasn't seated between us. "Don't you!?"

"Ummm, let's see that would be House Ad...Ohhhh..."

"Exactly."

"Perhaps we can change our course to avoid the Barony' capital, at least." Claudia suggested as she sighed.

"That would be rude, Dear and they're not... Bad people, just rather... odd." Her husband said with a soft, if uneasy, smile.

"We can just bypass it; we've no reason to stop in after all." Claudia repeated... before we came to a stop. Lorcan stiffened and Claudia and Klaus shared a nervous look before we could hear some talking outside. Finally a soft knock on the window came as I reached over and opened it, looking out to a mounted Dawn Templar.

"Yes?" I asked her as she sighed.

"Knights of Hakla has met with us on the road. They've extended an invitation from Baron Blake von Adelle." She told us with a smile... A nervous smile, like a gun was set to the back of her head. "They say he would love to have you for dinner, errrr, over for dinner... And offer you a place to rest before continuing on."

Lorcan whimpered. Claudia sighed. Klaus looked like he wanted to sigh but managed to avoid it. Riri looked confused and was blinking up at me. Obviously it would be rude to refuse such an offer without just cause.

"Well, I guess we're off to visit the Adelles..." I said with a shrug. I've heard tales of House Adelle. They're not bad people...

Just very...

Quirky.

[ - Author's Note - ]

Well... A lot happened there...

Claudia and the Dawn Templars pushed through to win the day but the Red Fang Tribe had one last 'screw you' to deliver... Before they received their own retort. Grave sacrificed his own man to deflect suspicion but is well aware he'll still have some on him; maybe more then he expected. James is learning from his battle and advancing on his next project...

And two lucky Dawn Templars took home the bet. You can guess what the prize is.

This chapter ended up over 23k words... Coupled with the third Questlines Chapter that's over 30K words posted today. Whew...

Next chapter is going to be a bit more light hearted to contrast all the seriousness, and the one following after that is planned to be a sexier one. After that will be another interlude and we'll be off to the High Kingdom of Ken to visit with Celestine!

Look forwards to it!

As always, critique is welcome, tell me what you like, what could be better, if you think the fight was well written or if I screw up somewhere. Since I was asked recently, remember this is cross posted between Fan Fiction Dot Net and Archive of Our Own. I also post the images of all the banners (Made by me!) on the AO3 version and it posts a link to a Gallery of all of the OC Reference Images as well as the images of all Kuroinu Canon characters that have shown up, thus far.

So next time we visit House Adelle who are...

A little bit spooky...

And a little bit kooky.

Until then!

~Eostian Scribe